7 There's always

My work day started as usual. I remembered to wear my slip resistant shoes and casual clothes I wouldn't mind getting stained. Dixie's was as busy as ever. They told me that it was always busy on Friday evenings, which meant I had a long night ahead of me.

A few hours in, I was washing away at dishes. With my mind set on the dirty plates and utensils that surrounded me, I was deaf to all noise except for my own throughts.

The kitchen crew were mostly hispanics that listened to loud music that made you wanna dance, even though I was never indulged to do so.

Still, I only heard my own words and imagination. That was, until Stevie interrupted me with a rolling cart with plastic baskets on it. She rolled it over to my back and struck me. My hand slipped and the plate I had that was completely cleaned and ready to be set in a rack fell back into the soapy water.

I sighed as I rolled my eyes over to the cheerful interrupter that was my boss. "Yes, boss?" I asked, only wanting to get back to work.

She winked at me, which I knew was code for something. "Hey, how do you feel about clearing some tables?"

I had never done that before. I liked the solitude of the dish room. I worked by myself at my own station. There was comfort in knowing I had minimal contact with others.

I shook my head. "I dunno I've never-"

"I'll make it worth your while." She said, rubbing her thumb, index and middle finger together, which showed me that money was involved. "And besides, who knows? You might just like it."

I threw my head back as I took the cart from her hands and blew her a winky face. "You should be glad I like you!" I joked. I'm sure at normal work places you couldn't talk to your boss like that, but this was a very relaxed and familiar atmosphere among all of us who worked at Dixie's.

I rolled the cart outside the backroom doors. I opened it and saw first hand the rush of a Friday evening. Now, I had never cleared tables, but it wasn't too complicated.

The cart had baskets for the dishes, and cloths and disinfectant spray for the surfaces. I began doing my new temporary job. As soon as I finished cleaning one table, another one popped up and I rushed over to do that one.

Knoxville has a pretty modern crowd, especially downtown. Many of the faces I saw were young. The looked like college students or your workers, taking steam off from their busy days.

I head a call come from the bar in the center where Jackson was busy attending the restaurant-goers. "Sander! Can you help me clear this spot up?!" His loud voice went over the crowd.

I hurried over and cleaned the area he was pointing to. In the middle of my cleaning, I heard a voice I recognized speak to me.

"It seems I bump into you everywhere I go."

With one hand on the table, wiping away at a spill, I pulled my head up and saw it was Daisy. She had a glass of something in her hand and was wearing dark, almost gothic clothes with small, dangling chains and big leather boots.

My eyes shook as if I were on a caffeine high. She looked stunning. "No kidding." I said, attempting to keep my cool and composure. "It's a small world after all."

She put in her warm, causal smile and nudged her head to the side, like if she wanted me to sit next to her.

I turned around to see Jackson, he gave me the thumbs up. And although he remained silent, i could read his expression. He basically said that it was okay for me to talk to her, at least just a little. He was officially my wingman

I grabbed and slid my apron straight in front of me, blew my hair back, and sat next to her on the stool.

She looked satisfied and took another sip at her drink. "To be honest with you though, I already knew you worked here. You did tell me."

It was unclear if she came he on the off chance I would work this day or if it was a complete coincidence, either way it worked out for the better.

"Hm. I don't want to disappoint you by keeping your expectations high. I'm just a simple part time busboy slash dishwasher. So don't get too excited when you see me excel at my highly exclusive workplace." I said sarcastically.

"Not at all. I'm actually really impressed in how well you-." she looked around and finished. "How well you do your thing."

I was sure I didn't look my best at that moment. Whenever I worked my sweat would make my hair curl and look wild. It was a little embarrassing talking to her at that moment, keeping in mind my possible appearance.

"You know, I plan on taking a trip." She said, taking another sip.

"A trip? Where to?".

"Before I tell you that, would you like a taste of this?" She set her drink to me.

The clink the glass made on the table reminded me of the bar scenes from the cowboy movies. "I'm not of legal age, tempting offer though."

"Oh come on now." she lifted it level with my mouth. "It'll be fine "

This was my first time drinking. My hands shook at this test of courage. She was insistent. I caved and put my lips on the drink, staggered for a moment, then took some of the drink in.

Once it went down my throat I preemptively coughed. Until I realized it wasn't bad, it was actually sweet.

She gasped for air with her laughter. She slapped her legs and my back as she went on and on. "Hahaha! It's a non alcoholic long island iced tea! You thought it was real, didn't you?!"

I had been defeated by Daisy, the spontaneous girl from the dog shelter. "Yeah, you got me."

"Well, that let's me know that I can tell you." She took the glass back to her. "I'm taking a road trip around the country. Getting out of this boring postcard of a town and going to see what's out there. What's really out there."

That sounded scary, but exciting. "Wow! Sounds cool. When do you plan on going?"

"In a few weeks. That's actually part of the reason I came by to see you."

"Hm..."

"I wanted to see if you'd like to come with me."

I let that sink in. I didn't give her a quick answer.

She saw me deliberately ponder the offer. "Remember? The whole talk we had about being spontaneous? This is the ultimate spontaneous thing I could think of! So whaddaya say?"

"Can... Can I let you know a little later? I'm not too sure about that right this moment."

By the way she looked down at her drink, I gathered she was bummed but hopeful. "That's okay. Here-" she gave me her phone. "Put your number in my phone and that way I can call you. You can give me your phone so I can put my number in it too."

This was the first time I ever exchanged numbers with a girl, other than for a school assignment or homework. I gave her my Android and she gave me her iPhone.

After that I stood up from the seat with the fear of all the work that was lined up waiting for me as soon as I got back to the grind.

"I have to go back to work, but I'll talk to you later."

She nodded. "Definitely."

That night I worked my tail off. I looked forward to going home and relaxing in my big comfy couch.

I kept an eye out for the mysterious, nameless, poem lady. She didn't show up that night, unlike several other nights.

No, I didn't see her then. What's worse, I still didn't know her name.